Interchanging Idioms

INCLUDES DELUXE LIMITED EDITION WITH BONUS DVD “MY LIFE WITH CHOPIN” AVAILABLE OCTOBER 9 The music of Chopin – universally loved for its beauty and communicative power – has long been a dynamic force in Lang Lang’s life, propelling him through a number of career-defining experiences. Now, in his 30th-birthday year, Lang Lang records his first album entirely devoted to the great composer’s solo piano masterpieces. The Chopin Album – Lang Lang’s third album for Sony Classical – includes the second set of Chopin’s Études (op. 25), the Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise and a selection of shorter works that he has long enjoyed performing, including three Nocturnes and the Waltz op. 64 no. 1, popularly known as the “Minute” Waltz. Chopin “speaks with such a universal voice,” Lang Lang says. “I genuinely believe he’s a true ambassador for classical music among the great composers. He appeals to everyone.” Chopin has accompanied Lang Lang throughout his career. One of the fir...

22 October, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 7.30pm 23 October, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, 7.30pm 26 October, Cadogan Hall, London, 7.30pm Sarah Chang performs Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Michael Sanderling, in Edinburgh, Manchester and London in October. The programmes in Manchester and London are completed by Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Haydn and Dvořák’s Symphony No 9 (From the New World). In Edinburgh Beethoven’s Egmont Overture opens the programme. Sarah Chang is recognised as one of the world’s great violinists. Since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at the age of eight she has performed with the greatest orchestras, conductors and accompanists internationally in a career spanning more than two decades. Michael Sanderling became Principal Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra at the beginning of the 2011/12 season. The Orchestra is one of the oldest and most respected symphony orchestras in Germany...

Part of the Nash Ensemble’s Dreamers of Dreams series, British music from the first half of the 20th century Saturday 27 October 2012, 7.30pm, The Wigmore Hall The Nash Ensemble is joined by tenor John Mark Ainsley at the Wigmore Hall on Saturday 27 October. They perform Benjamin Britten’s Three Divertmenti for string quartet, Frank Bridge’s Romanze, Cradle Song, and Sernade for violin and piano, Peter Warlock’s Songs for tenor and quartet, Edward Elgar’s La Capricieuse, Canto popolare, and Sospiri for violin and piano, and Ralph Vaughan-Williams’ On Wenlock Edge (Houseman) for tenor, string quartet, and piano. Marianne Thorsen is violin soloist with Ian Brown on piano. The Nash Ensemble will perform a number of Britten works throughout the Dreamers of Dreams series, in celebration of his upcoming centenary in 2013. Britten 100 is an unprecedented collaboration of leading organisations from the worlds of the performing arts, publishing, broadcasting, film, academia, and heritage, m...

EMPTY ORCHESTRA this week released their much anticipated album, entitled One More Time, Altogether Now, on Pentimento Music Co. A record that comes as the result of years of writing, recording and endless touring, the group have described the incredibly in-depth sound of the release as "filled with our blood and guts and hands and hearts." One More Time, Altogether Now is available for purchase here . To coincide with the album release, the video for single, The Audience, has debuted on The Performer. Filmed and set in the historic Capitol Theatre in the band's hometown of Flint, Michigan, the clip pays a gritty homage to the unfaltering melancholy of entertaining. Hauntingly beautiful, the band wanted the clip to encapsulate the ever-present love/hate relationship between performer and audience member. Check out the music video, plus guest blog entry from band member, Stephen Wisniewski, here .

Based on the Zuni myth Four Flutes .

Kronos Quartet Announces KRONOS: UNDER 30 PROJECT / #5 Commissioning program includes mentoring, residency, premiere, + recording Deadline for applications is November 16, 2012 The Kronos Quartet/Kronos Performing Arts Association is pleased to announce the fifth edition of its Kronos: Under 30 Project , a comprehensive commissioning and mentoring program for young composers under the age of 30. Launched in 2003, the Under 30 Project is designed to help nurture the careers of emerging artists, while enabling Kronos to forge stronger connections with the next creative generation. To date, four composers have received commissions through the Kronos: Under 30 Project. Nearly 1,000 applications, coming from 49 countries on six continents, have been personally reviewed by the quartet. From this year’s call for applications, Kronos will select the composer to whom they feel most artistically committed. That composer will be commissioned to write a new work for Kronos in close consultatio...

80 years and still going strong The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s 80th anniversary season opens next week! We begin the 2012/13 season with a diverse series of performances ranging from the dark theatrics of Strauss and Zemlinksy, spell-binding Russian bells, thought-provoking explorations of War & Peace, soulful cello concertos and brand new work from Carl Vine. Upcoming Events 26 September – Strauss & Zemlinksy Love, infidelity and scorn abound in Zemlinksy’s A Florentine Tragedy , inspired by Oscar Wilde’s play and Zemlinsky’s own embittered feelings towards former lover Alma Schindler. Greatly influenced by Richard Strauss, Zemlinksy’s colourful and gritty one-act opera is complemented by excerpts of Strauss’s own Die Frau Ohne Schatten . 29 September – Rachmaninoff The Bells An all-Russian programme of bell-inspired works, two also inspired by the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe. Featuring UK premieres of Rodion Shchedrin’s Concerto for Orchestra No. 2, Denisov's B...